“No, Lex,” she said finally. “I did not set you up to mess with the investigation.” She lifted her eyes. “I’ll concede, though, that I did know you were the lead in the investigation, but when I glimpsed you at Natalie’s wedding and saw your photo in the paper, I also knew you’d be the star of my bachelor auction, if I could get you. I also figured it would be a tough sell to get you to play because of your involvement with the case, so I kept my name out of it and sent Cassie to talk to Rita instead. We learned you had a thing for the Nevada Orphans Fund, so I swung the entire event around you. And then, when I saw you up on that stage, half-naked and getting all hot under your tie, well—” she paused, watching him intently “—I just had to have you for myself.” She placed her cool hand over his. “Does that make you angry, Special Agent Duncan?”
Lex tried not to flush. Crap, he didn’t even know where to look for a moment. She was flat out, shamelessly, seducing him. Or mocking him.
How far did she really want to go? He glanced down at her hand, her slender fingers splaying slowly over his, and perspiration prickled under his dress shirt. The idea he could have sex, tonight, with this intensely gorgeous young heiress—if he so chose—lodged hot and fast and sharp in his very male mind. And Lex knew he wasn’t going to get the image out of his head any time soon. His gut turned molten, and his brain felt thick. Quinn’s words crawled into his mind.
The legal stuff will be in the clear as long as you keep your hands off her.
Yeah, sex was the last thing he needed.
“Look, I don’t know what game you’re playing, Rothchild, but I’m not buying the fact you just felt like raising money for an arbitrary charity, for fun.”
She made a moue. “You are angry.” She feathered the back of his hand softly with her long red nails. “But you do look rather cute when you’re worked up.” Leaning forward, she lowered her voice to a whisper. “I knew there was a fire buried somewhere inside that buttoned-up suit of yours.” She slipped her manicured nails gently between his fingers as she spoke.
Heat arrowed straight to his groin. “I don’t like being played, Jenna,” he said, his voice thick. “You know what I think? The real reason behind this whole auction gig is to have my case thrown out of court down the road, when Rothchild lawyers start pointing out I was having a relationship with the victim’s sister. Maybe you want to see my career tank right along with the case, too?”
Her eyes flared.
He leaned forward. “And what I want, is to know why? What’s in it for you, Jenna Rothchild? Is it because you’re trying to hide some personal involvement in Candace’s murder by obfuscating things like this? Because this is not some party trick, some amusing distraction for a bored young socialite. This is serious. This, Jenna, is life and death, because there’s still a killer out there.” He paused. “One who could very well strike again.”
Her eyes flickered sharply, and a blush started to rise up her neck. Lex went for the gap. “Do you not want to find your sister’s killer, Jenna? Do you not want a murderer punished?”
She withdrew her hand, glanced away for a moment. “I’m not trying to hide anything,” she said very quietly. “Of course I want Candace’s killer brought to justice.”
Lex zeroed in on the crack forming in her facade. “What is it with you people anyway?”
Her eyes shot back to him. “What do you mean ‘you people’?”
“You people who live in this rarefied Vegas air,” he said with a wave of his hand, indicating the extravagance of the empty restaurant. “You people have none of the touchstones normal, everyday folk do. You live in your daddy’s casino castle, Jenna, playing with your glittery toys, fancy parties, little dogs. You’re immune to the world. To reality. I don’t think Candace’s death means a whole lot to you.”
Jenna’s cheeks went red, his comments cutting to the quick and infuriating her. Lex clearly didn’t like a single thing about her or her family. And quite honestly, when her father had asked her to come up with the auction shenanigan, Jenna hadn’t thought of the ripple effects—the very real and dark implications down the road. Like having Lex’s case thrown out of court and a killer walking free because of her. Or him losing his job.
Jenna couldn’t help wondering what her dad had been thinking when he persuaded her to mess with Lex Duncan. Harold was renowned for his sharklike business acumen—he used people. God, was her own father using her, too? And why wouldn’t he come clean about the provenance of that damn ring?